A players hir...inspire people to become A players
Oh yes, you probably heard this before – it's a common maxim on the tech world. As far as I know the one who coined the term is Steve Jobs, and I believe there is a lot of truth to it. It definitely taps into how people engage at work, and how they want to select the people they are going to work with.
I understand it as, confident people, people who want to grow, people who want to be challenged on their beliefs and do the best work of their lives, they are looking for others that can accelerate that. How can I accelerate my growth? Being challenged. Ultimately working with great people is not comfortable, they will challenge your assumptions and will poke at things that you missed, but that is the thing that will drive you to become better – if you can handle your ego. Taking things personally will stall your growth.
And to be honest that is one of the main aspects that drive people with a lot of potential to become B players – those of us who are insecure and are trying to protect our status as opposed to growing as fast as we can. Once you have achieved the local maxima, walking towards the next one is not comfy – let's be honest. Constantly climbing up hills requires grit. It requires focusing on things you can control, like your learning journey, your work ethic and willingness to be challenged. Believing your actions can't change your outcomes, will slowly pave the way towards a self induced pit of despair.
That downward spiral will reduce your desire to enact change, and will lead you to a lot of fear – that chronic paralyzing force that squishes you in like my daughter does with Twinkies. It will consume you from inside out – initially only you notice it, but eventually it shows up externally as well.
Sooner or later, all of that influences how you hire. If you want to grow, you hire people who will challenge you. If you are trying to protect your spot as king of playground, you will invite friends that can't provoke you. Ultimately, you are hiring just about anybody – as long as they are as fearful as you are.
hmmm, but...does that have to end there?
Our growth is not fixed, we can always improve and become better. That's why I believe Jobs' maxim does not tell the whole story. Don't get me wrong, I fully agree with it, but there is more – we can go deeper.
Just face it, how often are you hiring an entire team from scratch? Most likely than not, you join a new team, new company, new group, and there is already people there. Then, they all have a mix of experiences and are in different phases of their growth journey.
Looking at the graph above, if you are working with someone who is stagnant between points four and six on the horizontal axis you could classify them as B players or even "Bozos". Now, that is not helpful. Not to the organization you belong, not to yourself, and not to them. What do you do? Maybe cross your arms? Maybe talk about them until they are asked to leave? If you are the manager, maybe you manage them out of the org?
What about extending kindness and empathy?
We all go through hard experiences in life, we all need that person that believes in us and helps us out of a hopeless situation. So, maybe for once, try to influence people to become the best versions of themselves – don't settle for less. Be the inspiration the team needs, be the person that changes the room – be the one that smiles and can bring peace in the middle of the chaos.
If you are an A player, continue looking for A players – look really deep, perhaps so deep as to see the potential of the people around you.
You can be catalyst of change and go beyond your own belly button.